Karachi/Multan – A two-day provincial inception workshop for the six-year ‘Transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management’ project was held virtually in Sindh and Punjab. The workshop provided a multi-stakeholder platform for an in-depth discussion on the proposed project implementation strategy, possible challenges and mechanisms for community engagement.

‘Transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management’ project funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and co-financed by the provincial governments of Sindh and Punjab aims to increase resilience to climate change among the most vulnerable farmers in the Indus basin and to strengthen the Government of Pakistan’s capacity to support communities in adapting to climate change.

The project will help shift Pakistan and the Indus Basin agriculture from its current situation of high vulnerability towards an alternative paradigm wherein better information and farming practices will significantly increase resilience to climate change and economic improvements. To support this, the project will develop the country’s capacity to get and use the information it needs to cope with the impacts of climate change on agriculture and water management by putting in place state-of-the-art technology and innovation. About 1.3 million rural people (in 200 000 households) will directly benefit while another 16 million people (including 7.9 million women) may indirectly benefit from the project.

Jointly implemented by the federal Ministry of Climate Change, and the Governments of Sindh and Punjab and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the project will cover three district in Sindh including, Sanghar, Badin and Umerkot and five districts of Punjab including Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Khanewal, Lodhran and Multan.

The inception workshop brought together officials from the Governments of Sindh and Punjab, development partners, research and academia, public and private institutions, UN agencies representatives, government line department and the civil society.